Laid back and delightful

I had a wonderfully laid back weekend. Saturday morning Dick and I went to The Waffle Shop for breakfast. I considered trying something new, but ended up with my old faithful Iowa Corn Pancakes.

Dick had to go to work then. I spent time reading and napping and then went to Anthony and Lori's church for Family Game Day. I played a great game of Scrabble with three other people. It's been a while since I've played, so that was fun.

Then I went to the Goodwill thrift store and found some cool stuff for myself. I think I was there at least two hours! And then I got groceries and came home and made my awesome Middle Eastern Chickpea and Rice Stew for Sunday lunch.

This morning I went to my two churches. At the little United Methodist church I sang with the choir for the first time and made some more friends. I feel so at home there. The pastor's message on respect was AWESOME.

At Anthony and Lori's church the children's worship team led the praise and worship, which was really, really special. The United Soul Ensemble choir from Penn State had two dynamic special numbers. And the message was preached by Aaron Collins who I think was a former Penn State football player. He preached such a wonderful message.

After church I was eating lunch (my stew) with Anthony and Lori at their house when my phone rang. It was Rose Kidd from our church in Lancaster County. She and Barb Payne, also from our church, were at a retreat about half an hour away and were coming to visit us on their way home!!

They arrived at our house around 4:30 and hadn't eaten much since breakfast, so I was all prepared with my stew and some Naan bread to go with it. We had the most delightful time together catching up on each other's lives. Dick came home after he was done working at 6. It was also Trick or Treat night in our community, so I was jumping up to go to the door all evening.

They were here until 8:15. It was so special to have them here. This was a really delightful day.

More autumn beauty and activity

If you're tired of hearing me gush about the autumn beauty and looking at the pictures I keep taking, just scroll past these first few pictures really fast!  

It won't be long now until everything is brown and drab.  So sad.  The winter is so long up here.  But I don't want to think about that.  At least I'll always be happy when I'm indoors.  I love how my ugly green table looks with fresh autumn flowers sitting on it. Soon it will be time to pull out the Christmas decorations!

Lori and I had fun yesterday at a little fall party they had at Austin's daycare.  Most kids wore costumes.  Austin was dressed like a hunter in his bright orange and camouflage.   Now that's a true Stauffer, hahahahaha!!  At least he didn't carry a gun!!  He should have had a bright orange cap, but he wouldn't have kept it on anyway.

This little pumpkin was our favorite!

We were amazed at the positive power of peer pressure (how's that for alliteration??)  The way Austin stood in line without getting antsy and sat at the little table without trying to get up and wander around seemed so grown up.

Aren't they so cute?  Austin had a fever when I picked him up today.  We can't tell for sure what's causing it, but he definitely was less energetic, more whiny, and a lot more willing to be held than normal. 

Pictures from California

This week my sister Mary Ellen has the wonderful privilege of being in California with the new twins in our family. The twins, Jonah and Reid, are sons of my nephew Scott and his wife Sheri. Scott is the son of my beloved sister Janet (who passed away six years ago) and her husband Elvin.

Here are Sheri and Mary Ellen with the babies.

Here's Scott playing with their three-year-old son Corbin.

Jonah and Reid Peifer. I wonder if Janet knows about them. She would be so crazy over them.

My funny grandchildren

Our five-year-old granddaughter Sophie provides a never-ending supply of cute things to laugh at. Last week Lisa sent me this picture because Sophie had said that this is how Pennsylvania Memaw's hair looks in the morning, hahahahahaha!! She would know, wouldn't she?

This week Lisa called to tell me that Sophie had said to her, "Why are you looking at me with that bump on your face?" Turns out that apparently Lisa is developing those lovely vertical creases between her eyebrows that my kids used to always tease me about. See them in this picture? My kids always called them my tree trunk!!! Ahhh, Sophie! Sweet revenge!!

I know I keep saying how much Austin loves the leaves. But today I think he must have thought he went to Leaf Heaven. I took him for a walk in the stroller and there were leaves EVERYWHERE!! Coming down from the trees, all over the street. Piles of them along the street that we could ride right through, making the most marvelous rustly noise. Cars would drive by making the leaves scatter and prance around. He was absolutely ecstatic. He kept making his loud noises of exclamation and extending his arms like he just couldn't contain so much wonder!

Later I took him to the park where he did nothing but pick up leaves and exclaim over them.  I tried to get his enthusiasm on video, but my timing was usually off.  This video has one of his loud outbursts on it.

Doris at Penn State

This was a really special day.  After being away all weekend, my first order of business was to unpack and clean up.  But I also had a lunch to prepare for some very special guests - my sister Doris and her daughter Kim. 

Doris worked for many years as Activity Director in the dementia unit at Pleasant View Retirement Community.  Since leaving the job this past spring she has enjoyed her new life without a full time job.  But she has a wealth of knowledge and understanding and passion for people with dementia.  Lori invited her to come today to talk to the students and faculty in Lori's department's weekly colloquium. 

Lori had arranged for me to be able to take Austin back to the daycare after his lunch and nap so I would be able to come along with Doris to her presentation.  I'm so glad I could!  Doris did such a fantastic job of speaking and sharing.  Occasionally I would glance across the room at all the students, and I never saw one of them looking bored.  

 
When it was over I looked at Kim and said, "Well, are you proud of your mom?  I know I'm proud of my sister!"  Of course she was!  There were even students that came up to Doris afterward to ask her questions. 

It was almost 5:00 when we left the campus, and it was starting to rain, so they decided to head right back to Lancaster County.  Our time together was way too short, but oh so sweet!

A visit with Governor Dick

On Friday Dick had off work and had some delightful time to play with Austin.  Austin is just crazy over "Pawpaw."  He's also crazy about leaves, so it was extra special when Pawpaw took him for a walk outside and they collected leaves.  When they came inside, Austin just exclaimed over and over again about the leaves.  You'd have thought they struck gold!!

Around 5 PM we left for our weekend in Lancaster County.  As usual we went to Reading first to pick up Destiny.  It was her mom's 30th birthday that day, so I brought a cake and flowers, and we had a little birthday celebration with Destiny's mom and younger brother.

It was very late when we quietly sneaked into Dick's parents' house.  They never heard us.  I guess we're getting pretty good at being quiet! 

We had a wonderfully laid back kind of day on Saturday.  Dick and his dad went to an auction Saturday morning.  In the afternoon we took Destiny to a hiking trail that leads to a tower called Governor Dick.  We had gone there many times as children and also with our children, but it had been a very long time since we were there last. 



As we started hiking I said, "Lord, chase all the snakes away before me."  Dick and Destiny were walking ahead of me, and after about 30 minutes Destiny suddenly screamed,  "Snake!!"  And I saw the leaves rustling off to the side.  Apparently her walking stick had almost come right down on a small black and yellow snake and her scream made it quickly slither away.  I never saw it!!!  I said,  "Destiny, God used you to answer my prayer!"  For some reason she didn't think that was as cool as I did, hahahaha!!

She was much happier to meet up with a horse along the trail.

It was a long, rocky hike, and we were glad when we finally saw the tower.

To get to the top of the tower there are a series of ladders and landings all the way to the top.  Climbing those ladders always scared me, and it still does.  In fact, coming down was worse because I had to look down instead of up.

But what was even worse this time was the addition of stink bugs - thousands of them!!  Gross!!

But getting to the top and looking around for miles and miles was worth it all.

 

 

 

It was such a beautiful day, the woods were lovely, and the exercise was just what we needed.

 

On Sunday I led worship at our church, we caught up with many of our friends, ate lunch with Dick's parents ( I had made some yummy taco soup), took naps, I played school with Destiny, we ate a light supper with his parents, took Destiny home, and drove back to State College.  I'm always so happy to see our friends and family in Lancaster County, and I'm always just as happy to come home to our new house and our wonderful bed.

God's artwork

Remember this view outside our bedroom window in August?

This morning it looks like this.

Too bad those power lines aren't buried under ground. But isn't God's artwork something else?

Fall leaves, transplant good news

After Lori was finished working today we met at the nearby park. Austin is CRAZY about leaves, the bigger the better. On both pictures below you can see the big yellow one he was carrying around. Today when I got to my house with him, he picked up a big leaf off the driveway, brought it into the house with him, kept it right beside him during lunch, and fell asleep with it in his hand!

The temp was lower than we realized, and Austin had no hat. So Lori tried putting her hood on him!! He didn't appreciate it very much!

This evening Lori and I went to the women's Bible study that we've been attending every other Thursday night. The teacher, Sherilyn Jameson, is teaching on the book of Galatians. I thought I knew all about Galatians and all about God's grace. But wow! She is such an anointed teacher, and I feel like every time I come away with such amazing new insights.

The kidney transplant brother and sister in Florida are doing great! Linda was out walking today. Mike will walk for the first time tomorrow. The great news is that his fever is gone, the new kidney is working! In fact, the doctor said this evening that his recovery is ahead of schedule! If you've ever had blood work done, one of the things it often shows is your creatinine level, which is the kidney function. Mine is always 0.8, the good range being from 0.6 - 1.3. Before surgery Mike's was above 6.0. This evening it was down to 1.7!!! Isn't that awesome? Linda and Mike are on different floors of the hospital, so they haven't seen each other since the surgeries. Tomorrow they will for the first time. I wish I could be a fly on the wall. I hope somebody takes a picture.

Thrift store treasures

As you all know, I am a thrift store shopaholic! Recently I went to the local Goodwill store and saw a table. A rather ugly table, I thought. Someone had obviously tried to antique it. But it was very sturdy. And just the right size for my breakfast nook. And it was green, and there is some green in my kitchen curtains. And it was certainly better than the card table I had in the breakfast nook. But it was ugly. So I left it there.

But I kept thinking about it, especially when I would eat lunch with Austin at the card table and he would delight in pushing it with his feet. "At least he couldn't so easily push a sturdy wooden table," I thought.

So I went back, and upon first glance I thought it was no longer there. Rats!!! I forgot how ugly it was, and wished I would have gotten it. But alas, there it was after all! I went to the checkout and asked the young cashier, "May I pay for something and have my husband pick it up later?" She said, "Sure. What did you want to get?" "That ugly green table over there, " I answered. "That's not ugly! I LOVE that table! If I had a place to put it I would buy it! In fact, I can't believe we still have it." "Well, I guess it was for me," I answered, suddenly liking the table a lot more!

A few days later when Lori saw it she said, "Lisa would love this table. Isn't it sort of like the island in her kitchen?" Hmmm. I hadn't thought of that. So I sent pictures of it to Lisa, and she said it's awesome. So I guess it is, hahahahahaha!

As you can see, it has "character" as Lisa calls markings like this!

The other day I discovered another thrift store, which I took a quick walk through. I was almost ready to walk out the door when I saw this almost-new purse. I loved it and bought it for $5.00. I'm certainly not a purse pro and had never heard of the name that's on that tag and all over the liner inside the purse - Tignanello. So I googled it. I believe someone paid quite a bit more than $5.00 for this purse the first time around. How nice of her to give it to that store so I could buy it and look richer than I am, haha!!

We are thankful tonight that the kidney transplant from Linda to her brother Mike was accomplished today. However, they still need our prayers. Linda has a lot of pain, and Mike is fighting a fever, which they are trying to discover the reason for. I'm not sure how they get one's body to fight an infection but not fight the new kidney at the same time. But then, I'm not the doctor!